Safety cap or closure



DeC- 11, 1962 J. c. EvERET'r 3,067,899 SAFETY CAP 0R cLosURE Filed Aug. 22. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTOR NEYS.

Dec. l1, 1962 J. c. EVERETT SAFETY CAP OR CLOSURE 2 Sheetg-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22. 1961 Ill',

INVENTOR. E8re?? United States Fatent @ffice 3,067,899 Patented Dec. 11, 1962 3,057,899 SAFETY CAP OR CLOSURE .lames C. Everett, Odessa, Tex. Filed Aug. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 133,225 1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-41) The present invention relates to a safety cap or closure for a container, bottle or the like, and more particularly to a safety cap that is adapted to be opened or removed by a unique and novel linger action The present invention is an improvement over a cap such as that shown in prior Patent No. 2,964,206 dated December 13, 1960.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a safety cap or closure which is adapted to be used on a container, bottle or the like so that for example when medicines including pills or other similar substances are being stored in the bottle or container, unauthorized persons including children will not be able to readily remove the cap or closure in order to gain access to the contents of the bottle and thus the contents of the bottle can be maintained in a more safe condition until an adult or other person who understands how to remove the closure applies the necessary finger pressure thereto to dislodge r disengage the closure or cap from the container.

A further object is to provide a safety cap or closure of the type stated which in one form of the invention may consist of a member that can be made of a suitable member such as plastic, metal or the like, and wherein in certain instances a sealing member or gasket can be used if desired or required, the closure including an inclined surface which is adapted to be engaged by a persons linger so that by applying pressure to this inclined surface and with the safety cap on a bottle, the cap can be shifted sufficiently in order to permit disengagement of its holding parts or members from the bead of the bottle whereby the cap can be readily removed from the bottle, when a person has the proper know-how, and wherein children or the like will not be able to readily remove the closure so that the present invention is especially suitable for use in safely storing substances which it is desired to keep out of the hands of children.

Still another object is to provide such a closure or cap that is economical t0 manufacture and eflicient in operation and which is both rugged in structure and foolproof 1n use.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claims, together with the accompanying drawings, wherein like parts are referred to and indicated by like reference characters and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the safety cap or closure, showing the cap locked e on a bottle.

FIGURE 2 is a view generally similar to FIGURE l but showing the position of `a linger on the inclined surface of the closure just prior to starting to remove the closure from the container.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the closure or safety ca lFIGURE 5 is a bottom plan View of the closure.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional View with the parts in a position corresponding to FIGURE 2, and illustrating a modification.

FIGURE 6a is a sectional view taken on the line 6a-6a of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 7 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view illustrating a further modification and showing the cap or lid sealed on the bottle and showing a bottle with a different shape or type of bead.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view on a reduced scale taken on the line 8 8 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a View similar to FIGURE 7 but showing the closure pressed down and illustrating the first step in moving the closure of FIGURE 7 from the bottle.

FIGURE l0 is a View similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the closure in a shifted or pushed over position ready to be removed from the bottle.

FIGURE l1 is a sectional view on a reduced scale, taken on the line 11-11 of FIGURE 10.

FIGURE l2 is a sectional view of a further modification, showing the closure sealed on the bottle.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken on the line 13- 13 of FIGURE l2.

FIGURE 14 is a vertical sectional view of `a further modification.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURES l through 5 of the drawings, the numeral indicates a portion of a container or bottle which includes an upper open end as indicated by the numeral 21, and the container 20 further includes an annular side wall 22 which is provided with an outwardly enlarged circular bead 23 on the upper end portion thereof, and an annular recess or groove 24 is defined just below the bead 23.

The numeral 25 indicates a sealing member which is adapted to be made of yieldable or resilient material, and the sealing member 25 extends across the opening 21, and the sealing member 25 is shown to comprise a main portion 26 of uniform thickness, and the sealing member 25 further includes a tapered portion 27 of increased thickness.

The numeral 28 indicates a closure or safety cap that may be made of a suitable material such as plastic, rubber, metal or the like, and the closure 28 is releasably mounted on the container 20 above the sealing member 25, and as shown in the drawings the closure 28 includes a main flat section 29 of uniform thickness which is arranged above the main portion 26 of the sealing member 25, and the closure 28 further includes a tapered section 30 which is of increased thickness, and the tapered section 30 is arranged above the tapered portion 27 of the sealing member 25. The numeral 31 indicates an inclined finger engaging surface which is arranged adjacent the outer upper corner of the tapered section 30.

The closure 28 further includes a generally circular depending flange that is indicated by the numeral 32, and the flange 32 is provided with diametrically opposed vertically extending straight portions 33, FIGURE 3.

The flange 32 is further provided with an inwardly directed shoulder 34 that is shaped to include tapered end portions 35 that merge into the iiange 32, and the shoulder 34 further includes an intermediate thickened portion 36, and the shoulder 34 is adapted to selectively engage a portion of the recess 24 as later described in this application.

Arranged in diametrically opposed relation with respect to the shoulder 34 is a rib that is indicated generally by the numeral 37, FIGURE 5, and the rib 37 is formed integral with a lower portion 0f the flange 32, and the rib 37 is arranged generally below the inclined surface 31 as shown in FIGURE 1 for example. The rib 37 is shaped to include an intermediate thickened portion 38 as well as tapered end portions 39 that merge gradually into the straight portions 33 of the ange 32.

In FIGURE 2 the numeral 40 indicates a linger which is used to apply pressure to the surface 31 as for example when the closure is being removed from the bottle.

Attention is now directed to FIGURES 6"' and 6a of the drawings, wherein the numeral 41 indicates a medicine bottle, container or the like which includes an annular side wall that has a circular bead 42 adjacent the upper opened end thereof, and an annular recess or groove 43 is defined just below the `bead 42. The numeral 44 indicates the closure of the present invention which is releasably mounted on a container such as the container 41, and the closure 44 may be made of metal or the like, and the closure 44 is shaped to include a main flat section 45 as well as an upwardly inclined section 46, and there is provided an inclined finger engaging surface 47 that is contiguous to the upper outer portion of the section 46.

The closure 44 is provided with a generally circular depending flange 48 which may be provided with a rolled rim as indicated by the numeral 49, and the flange 48 includes or embodies diametrically opposed vertically disposed straight portions 50. The flange 48 is further provided with an arcuate section 51 that provides a shoulder for engagement with a portion of the bead 42 as shown in FIGURE 6, and the numeral 52 indicates an arcuate section that defines a rib, and the rib 52 is arranged generally below the inclined surface 47, and the rib 52 is arranged in diametrically opposed relation with respect to the shoulder 51.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 through 11 of the drawings, there is illustrated a further modification wherein the numeral 53 indicates the upper portion of a bottle or container which includes an annular side wall 54 that has a generally flat head of circular formation as indicated by the numeral 55 on the upper portion thereof, and an annular groove or recess 56 is defined below the bead 55. The numeral 57 indicates a sealing member or washer or gasket of uniform thickness, and the yieldable sealing member 57 extends across the upper open end and bead 55 as shown in the drawings. The numeral 58 indicates the closure cr safety cap which is shown to comprise a main section 59 of uniform thickness, and the closure 58 further includes a tapered section 62 lthat has an inclined finger engaging surface 6i)` adjacent the upper outer portion thereof, FIGURE 7.

The closure 58 is further provided with a depending generally circular flange 61, and the flange 61 is shaped to include diametrically opposed smooth or vertically disposed straight portions 63. The flange 61 is further provided with an inwardly projecting shoulder 64 on a lower edge portion thereof, and the shoulder 64 is shaped to include an intermediate thickened portion 65 as well as tapered end portions 66 which merge into the portions 63, FIGURE l1.

The numeral 67 indicates a rib which projects inwardly from a lower edge portion of the flange 61, and the rib 6 7 is arranged in diametrically opposed relation with respect to the shoulder 64, and the rib 67 is shaped to include an intermediate thickened portion 63 as well as tapered end portions 69 that merge smoothly into the sections or portions 63, FIGURES 8 and l1. The rib 67 is arranged generally below the inclined surface 60.

Referring to FIGURES 12 and 13 of the drawings, there is illustrated a modification which is indicated generally by the numeral 70, and the modification 7 t) is shown to include a closure 44 that has generally the same construction as the closure 44 shown in FIGURES 6 and 6a, and in addition a sealing member 25 similar to the sealing member 25 shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 is adapted to be used below and in conjunction with the closure 44, and these parts or elements may be arranged in a container such as the container 41.

Attention is directed to FIGURE 14 of the drawings where there is illustrated a still further modification and wherein the numeral 71 indicates an upper portion of a bottle or container which includes an annular side wall 72 that has an outwardly arranged enlarged rounded bead 73 thereon, and the numeral 74 indicates a sealing memher which extends across the upper open end of the bottle 71, and the sealing member 74 may be made of a yieldable material and has a generally tapered shape so that for example it increases in thickness from left to right in FIGURE 14. The numeral 75 indicates a closure on the sealing member 74, and the closure 75 includes the section 76 of uniform thickness as well as the section 77 of tapered formation and of increased thickness, and there is provided the inclined finger engaging surface 78 adjacent the section 77.

The closure 75 is further provided with a depending generally circular flange 79 which includes intermediate opposed vertically disposed straight portions, and also the flange 79 is shaped to include a portion 80 that has on the lower edge thereof a shoulder 81 which terminates in a knife like edge for selectively engaging below the bead 73 so as to form a tight seal when the closure is properly seated on the container.

Arranged in diametrically opposed relation with respect to tne shoulder 81 is a rib 83 that is directed inwardly from the lower edge portion 82, and the rib 83 may be provided with an arcuate or concave surface 84 for snugly engaging a portion of the bead 73.

It will be seen that according to the present invention there has been provided a safety cap or closure which is an improvement over the prior similar devices such as that shown in prior patent No. 2,964,206 dated December 13, 1960.

With reference to a closure such as that shown in FIGURES 1 through 5, it is to be noted that the bottle 20 may be a medicine bottle or the like, and the closure 28 is adapted to have a sealing member 25 arranged therebelow, and the closure 28 may be made of a suitable material such as hard plastic, and the sealing member 25 may be made of yieldable material. With the closure in place on the container 20 as for example as shown in FIGURE 1, when it is deisred to remove the closure from the bottle or container, it is necessary that finger pressure such as pressure from the finger 40 be applied to the inclined surface 31 so that as shown in FIGURE Z the closure 28 can be pushed or moved slightly from right to left by application of finger pressure to the surface 31. As this slight movement of the closure 28 occurs due to the pressure of the finger or thumb 40 on the surface 31, the shoulder 34 will be moved slightly from right to left as for example from the position shown in FIGURE l to the position shown in FIGURE 2 so that the shoulder 34 will move out of the recess 24 whereby the shoulder 34 will be able to clear the adjacent portion of the bead 23, and with the shoulder 34 in the moved position as for example as shown in FIGURE 2, the closure can be manually gripped in the hand or fingers and pulled off of the bottle. The provision of the washer 25 with the portions 26 and 27 of different thickness, together with the closure 28 having the sections 29 and 30 arranged as shown, are such that when the closure is arranged on the container or bottle as shown in FIGURE 1, the rib 37 and shoulder 34 will remain firmly engaged with opposed portions of the recess 24 due to the inherent resiliency of the closure 28, but when finger pressure is applied to the surface 31, the necessary forces will be transmitted through the closure so as to free the shoulder 34 from the recess 24 as shown in FIGURE 2 in order to permit the safety cap or closure to be conveniently manually removed from the bottle. It will therefore be seen that if a child attempts to remove the safety cap or closure from the bottle as for example by merely pulling up on the closure, that the closure will remain firmly mounted on the container, but when an adult or authorized person desires to gain access to the contents of the bottle then by applying finger pressure to the surface 31, the closure can be removed as previously described. The smooth portions 33 of the flange 32 are free of having the shoulder or rib thereon, so that as soon as the shoulder is moved free of the recess 34 by application of finger pressure to the inclined surface 31, there will be no interference with ready and convenient removal of the closure from the bottle.

In the modification of FIGURES 6 and 6a, a sealing member is not used, and the closure 44 is adapted to be used in a manner generally similar to the previously described closure 23, so that for example with the closure 44 on the container 41 as shown in FIGURE 6, when it is desired to remove the closure 44, finger pressure from a finger `40 is adapted to be applied to the inclined surface 47. This causes the necessary forces to be transmitted through the closure 44 so that the shoulder 51 Will move free of that portion of the bead 42 which is adjacent thereto, whereby the closure 44 can then be manually removed or lifted up olf of the container. If a child or the like attempts to move the closure 44 without understanding the proper method of removing the same, the shoulder 51 and rib 52 will maintain the closure safely held or locked on the container.

In the modification of FIGURES 7 through 11, the same general procedure is adapted to be followed when removing the closure from the bottle such as the bottle S3, and for example to remove the closure 58 it is necessary to apply linger pressure such as pressure from the iinger 4t? to the inclined surface 60 so as to shift the closure from a position such as that shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 to a position such as that shown in FIGURE 9, where, in FIGURE 9 the closure is shown initially pressed down by application of finger pressure to the surface 60, and then by pushing or manually moving the closure 58 from right to left as for example from the position shown in FIGURE 9 to a position such as that shown in FIG- URES 10 and ll, the shoulder 64 will be clear or free of the adjacent portion of the bead 55 so that the closure Sd can be readily removed from the container.

In the modification of FIGURES l2 and 13 a combination of parts as indicated by the numeral '70 are illustrated wherein a closure 44 and sealing member 25 are used in conjunction with each other, and to remove the unit 7@ it is necessary to apply finger pressure to the surface 47 to cause the shoulder 51 to come free of the bead 42 whereby the closure can then be removed.

In the modification of FIGURE 14 linger pressure is adapted to be applied to the surface 78 to cause the shoulder 71 to free itself from the portion of the bead 73 whereby the closure can be removed so that the holding action of the shoulder Si and rib 83 can be released. It is to be understood that when the bottle or container is to be again sealed up or closed, the reverse procedure is followed whereby the closure can be pushed down on top of the container to safely maintain the contents of the container in the desired manner.

Suitable material can be used for making the various parts or elements, and such parts can be made in different shapes or sizes or configurations as desired or required.

When it is desired to open the bottle or container or remove the closure, the inclined finger engaging surface is adapted to be pressed on, and when the closure is being replaced, finger pressure is adapted to be applied to the opposite end from the inclined finger engaging surface in order to cause the closure to be properly seated or mounted on the beaded portion of the container. The closure can be used on a bottle having rounded beads,

or else it can be used in conjunction with a bottle having a square rim or bead as for example as shown in FIG- URES 7 through l1. The shoulder and rib of the cap serve to hold the cap in place on the bottle, and when it is desired to remove the cap it is only necessary to hold the bottle or container in one hand, and place the thumb of the same hand on the inclined finger engaging surface such as the surface 31 and then press as for example in a direction from right to left in `FIGURE 2, as previously described. l

The parts can be made of a rigid type of plastic, metal or the like, and by applying pressure from the thumb on the pressure points such as the point 31 the cover or closure can be readily removed. FIGURE 2 illustrates the position of the shoulder and rib as the closure is removed from the bottle. The present invention is especially suitable for use in preventing children from gaining access to medicines or other harmful substances which are desired to be kept in a safe condition.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it will be obvious that the invention may be otherwise embodied and the dimensions and interrelation of parts changed so long as the objects of the invention are attained.

What is claimed is:

In a closure for the open upper end of a container having an exterior bead extending thereabout, said closure including a sealing member of yieldable material of a size to fit over the open end of said container and a body member overlying said sealing member, a skirt having a straight inner wall depending from the perimeter of said body member, a first rib projecting inwardly from a portion of said skirt, said rib tapering uniformly from the midpart to the ends and the ends merging into the inner wall of said skirt, said rib being of a length greater than one-fourth of the circumference of said skirt and less than one-half of the circumference of said skirt, and a second rib projecting inwardly from another portion of said skirt, said another portion of said skirt being diametrically opposed to said rst mentioned skirt portion, said second rib tapering uniformly from the midpart to the ends and the ends merging into the inner walls of said skirt, said second rib being of a length equal to onehalf of the circumference of said skirt, the section of said body member adjacent said second rib being of a thickness greater than the thickness of the sections of said body member adjacent said first rib and being provided with an inclined surface adapted to serve as a pressure point for a finger when hand pressure is applied to compress said yieldable sealing member and shift said body member across the open top of the container in the direction of said first rib when said body member is in the position closing the container open end with said first and second ribs engaging under said bead.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,463,145 Koss July 24, 1923 FOREIGN PATENTS 629,175 Great Britain Sept. 14, 1949 

